Manish Pandey ton downs Tamil Nadu

A five-wicket haul from the medium-pacer Shadab Nazar helped bundle Haryana out for 75, and set up a crushing eight-wicket win for Services in Bilaspur. Haryana, having been inserted, were jolted right from the off, as Nazar (5 for 27) and Suraj Yadav (2 for 24) wrecked the team's top order, before Narender Singh wiped out their tail. Sunny Singh was Haryana's top scorer with 19, and their only player to reach double digits, with none of the other batsmen contributing more than 9.

Services lost two wickets during the chase, but were never really going to miss out on such a paltry target. Their opener Pratik Desai's unbeaten 45, which featured eight fours, guided the team home in 16.5 overs for their second win of the tournament.

An all-round effort from Raghav Dhawan was the cornerstone behind Himachal Pradesh's 13-run win against Delhi in Dharamsala. Raghav first slammed 89 to lift Himachal to 244 for 6, and later picked up 3 for 47, including a wicket in the last over, to seal the team's second win of the tournament.

After being inserted, Raghav put up big stands for the first two wickets with Prashant Chopra and Ankit Kalsi to lay a solid foundation. He hit nine fours and two-sixes during his 120-ball knock, and though Raghav was eventually dismissed in the 42nd over, Rishi Dhawan and Bipul Sharma added 73 off just 48 deliveries to produce a late surge.

With the likes of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir failing to fire yet again, Delhi were struggling at 112 for 5 in their chase before Milind Kumar (69) and Rajat Bhatia led a recovery with a 61-run partnership. However, the team lacked the desired acceleration, and with the required rate escalating with each over, they lost their last five wickets inside nine overs. Apart from Raghav's blows, Vikramjeet Malik, Pankaj Jaiswal and Rishi Dhawan each chipped in with two scalps.

Mandeep Singh's unbeaten century helped Punjab gun down 228 against Jammu & Kashmir with seven wickets to spare at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cricket Stadium. Mandeep blasted 10 fours and a six during his 103 not out, and added 116 for the second wicket with Manan Vohra, who made 52, as Punjab won in 43 overs.

Earlier, a three-wicket haul from Navdeep Sidhu wrecked J&K's top order, pegging them back early in the innings. Adil Reshi's 67 led a recovery, but he was dismissed in the 33rd over, and no other batsman was able to produce a big enough score that would really trouble Punjab. Amitoze Singh, Deepak Bansal and Gurkeerat Singh Mann all struck at regular intervals, ensuring that J&K were bowled out for a below-par 227 in 49.3 overs.

South Zone

Manish Pandey continued his fine form in the competition, stroking a rapid century to guide Karnataka to a 104-run victory against Tamil Nadu in Secunderabad. Manish's unbeaten 74-ball 101, his third 50-plus score in the tournament, included 10 fours and three sixes, and powered Karnataka to a mammoth 313 for 6. Karnataka's innings had early been given an impetus by Robin Uthappa and KL Rahul's (67) 50-run opening stand, before Manish added 77 for the fifth wicket with Shishir Bhavane to provide a late surge.

Tamil Nadu were pegged back early in their chase, as Abhimanyu Mithun collected 4 for 38 to wipe out their top order. The team was precariously placed at 83 for 5 before Dinesh Karthik (63) and Yo Mahesh (55) counterattacked with a 121-run partnership. However, both batsmen were dismissed in successive deliveries from HS Sharath, and Tamil Nadu slipped from 204 for 5 to 209 all out.

A 185-run partnership between Kerala's KB Pawan and Rohan Prem sent Hyderabad spiraling towards their third consecutive defeat of the tournament. Opting to bat, Kerala lost Vishnu Vinod early, but KB Pawan struck nine fours and three sixes to make a run-a-ball 106 for his second century on the trot. He received ample support at the other end from Prem, whose 96 included six fours and four sixes. Though both batsmen were removed by the 40th over, Sachin Baby's 26-ball 42 and Raiphi Gomez's 16-ball 26 lifted the total to 321 for 9.

Hyderabad responded with a centurion of their own, but Ashish Reddy's unbeaten 119 was the team's only noteworthy score, with none of his team-mates hitting more than 27. Eight batsmen were dismissed for single-digit scores, as Hyderabad were bowled out for 188 and lost by 133 runs. Vinod Kumar, Basil Thampi and Fabid Ahmed each snared two wickets apiece for Kerala.

A 138-run partnership between Rohit Asnodkar and Saurabh Bandekar helped Goa recover from a shaky start and post a 45-run win against Andhra in Secunderabad. An early burst from Paidikalva Vijaykumar (4 for 25) dragged Goa down to 45 for 5, but Asnodkar and Bandekar's stand helped the team counterattack and compile a respectable 217. Asnodkar hit 10 fours to score 71, while Bandekar thumped 11 fours and five sixes on his way to 101, his maiden List-A ton.

Andhra's reply was blighted by the loss of wickets at regular intervals, which prevented them from forging a threatening partnership. Prasanth Kumar top-scored with 51, but with the other batsmen failing to convert their starts, the team was dismissed for 172 in 46.1 overs. Darshan Misal was the pick of Goa's bowlers, taking 5 for 31 from his nine overs.

Central Zone

A half-century from Asad Pathan, as well as other handy knocks from Railways' top and middle order sealed the team's third consecutive win, against Madhya Pradesh in Nagpur. Chasing 242, Asad provided Railways the ideal start by blasting 63 off 36 balls, with 10 fours and a six. He added 98 for the first wicket with Abhishek Kaushik, and though both batsmen were dismissed in quick succession, Arindam Ghosh (38) and Rongsen Jonathan (26) kept the score ticking with a 57-run partnership. Railways suffered another mini-blip, losing three wickets in the space of seven overs, but Ashish Yadav and Karn Sharma's unbroken 58-run association guided the team home in 47.4 overs.

Earlier, the in-form Naman Ojha had celebrated his call-up to to India's Test squad for the upcoming tour of Australia with a fifty. Ojha (61) and Jalaj Saxena (58) both raised half-centuries during a 118-run opening partnership, and despite suffering a mid-innings stutter, Anand Bais' 24-ball 32 took the team close to 250, though it ultimately wasn't enough. Karn was the pick of Railways' bowlers, taking 3 for 47.

Mukul Dagar's maiden List-A hundred paved the way for Uttar Pradesh's 75-run defeat of Rajasthan in Nagpur. Dagar muscled 13 fours during his 122-ball 106, and was in the heart of two big partnerships which propelled Uttar Pradesh to 283 for 8. Dagar first added 74 for the third wicket with Umang Sharma, before combining with Parvinder Singh (60) for a fourth-wicket association which yielded 104 runs. Pankaj Singh was Rajasthan's best bowler, and he ended with figures of 10-1-52-4.

Puneet Yadav (50) and Dishant Yagnik (53*) both struck half-centuries during Rajasthan's chase, but the rest of the batsmen's inability to make good on their starts meant that they were restricted to 208 for 8 from their 50 overs. RP Singh took 3 for 33 and Ankit Rajpoot, 2 for 36.